The Brand Integrity Blog » Ribbit® Branded by Salt Branding

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Back to Brand Integrity Home Written on 04-Oct-2008 by russell.volckmann

Superb Brand and Visual Identity by Salt Branding in San Francisco!

A very effective Ribbit graphical identity & name—the "ribbit" froggy sound, the implied image of a frog jumping from a lily pad (splash) in the wordmark (or it could be a tongue zipping out to catch an orange fly?). It is an organic experience we can relate to on an instinctive and intuitive way.

The "zen" of this name & visual identity is reminiscent of a classic Japanese haiku（俳句）poem:

Furu ike ya, Kawazu tobikomu, Mizu no otto

ふるいけや, かわずとびこむ, みずのおっと

Meaning:

An old pond, Frog jumps, The sound of water

Pure genius. And see how well this works as a co-brand:

Ribbit is “An Open Platform for Telephony Innovation”. But what this company does, or that they are B2B or B2C, is somewhat irrelevant. What is very relevant is the way Salt Branding took the ideas of “alive, jumping, green, and not-stuck-in-one-pond (like being stuck on one telephony platform)”. Salt translated that into a fresh name, whose very sound conjures up the refreshing experience one gets from freedom—the freedom that the company promises in their brand.

Congratulations to Salt Branding!

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Tags: community,ecosystem,partners,adobe,clients,brand,communications,platform,volckmann studios,ribbit,salt branding,russell volckmann,rick herrick,salesforce,simulscribe,silicon valley phone company

Comments

written on 15-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco [http://www.webjam.com/brand30] says:

It's a great piece of work... What I wonder is how much time will this brand survive to the BT octopus!...

It would be a pitty if they decided to colapse this effort, specially by its Silicon Valley postmo touch
written on 16-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

BT octopus?
written on 16-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

BT leading intentions!
written on 17-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

British Telecom?
written on 17-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

Didn't BT buy Ribbit?
written on 17-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

Ah! OK, sorry, sorry... I see where you are going. So you think maybe that BT acquired Ribbit to absorb the technology, thereby killing the brand? Or, absorbed the brand & technology in order to kill the product--and maybe repackage it under the BT brand?
written on 17-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

BT Ribbit --> BT API --> BT Integra --> BT

Under the BT corporate point of view, MROI to sustain Ribbit brand would be higher than its monolithic traditional approach...

The brand is great... The idea of having been adquired by BT, good for the partners... The rest of the story, only God knows!
written on 17-Sep-2008

julio.ferro says:

First impression: Rabbit
Second: garden tools
Third sight: what has a 3D ball to do with such nice calligraphy?. The idea of frog's voice is cool, but there's need to explain it. I think a sonotype would work great supporting the graphic idea.
Fourth reading: it's about communication not technology. Got it. Could it be about something portable? Cool.
Fifth: it looks different in between these tribe of logos. But I'm not so convinced it has the right visual language. I mean, if you've got to go to a wedding, you could wear a new tuxedo design, but not blue jeans.
written on 17-Sep-2008

julio.ferro says:

this is what I'm talking about. Williams landscaping logo by The Bradford Lawton Design Group.
written on 17-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

Julius! Make an effort... What good things do you see in this visual expression?... ;) I and probably you also remember... when Telefónica launched its new "shampoo" brand... And two years ago, when Telefónica MoviStar launched Wolf Ollins' gely joystick... And they are strong brands... No?
written on 17-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

Interesting outlook...

I think some of the most successful "technology brands" have associated their identity with something non-technical. Why? Because "technical" is complex, requires a lot of math, is not fun, it's not something you want to think about, or bring inside your home, or something that connects with you in an organic way.

Apple (juice?)
Blackberry (pie?)
Yahoo? (yodeling?)
written on 17-Sep-2008

julio.ferro says:

The shampoo style was adopted by Unilever. First was Telefonica and what I can see in its logo (and in Ribbit as well) is the human component to start talking again about communication and not technology but without missing the corporate look. That's OK for me, but the Movistar jelly is awful. In the same line I prefer the 3 (three.uk) logo by Miles Newlin.

Movistar success was built upon a smart campaing. Launching at the same time and countries the new branding. A huge noise, but actually irrelevant. Here in Argentina it is not so beloved as the Telefonica guys may think.
written on 17-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

Telefónica, as all and each incumbent, is not a company to be in love with (however, and to be polite, sometimes they make love to you... without permission)...

Something to think about... Perhaps our point of view should change... e.g.: Movistr is succesfull because of the biz volume that teh company has... Perhaps, we have to think in strength brands and its resilience over time... and not in quantity of money...
written on 17-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

Cristián... as part of your work with clients, do you always bring in your brand valuation tools in order to "quantify" brand value?
written on 17-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

Noooooooo!... Despite that I was leading more than 100 brand valuations... day after day, I am discovering that it's not the tool to take real decisions about brand and/or marketing strategy...

During the last three years I was working with some colleagues in a Branding & Marketing Balanced Scorecard model... which:
1. Gives a better explanation of the logic of your strategy
2. Links strategy with actions through metrics
3. Explains better certain issues that are adding value now but not incomes... e.g.: innovation projects (NPD)
4. If you still want to develop a brand valuation, al the info is there...
5. Allows you to take the right decisions right

The risks with brand valuation are two:
- Part of the metrics are out of your control (also out of the company control)
- There are a lt of considerations and supositions that you do need to replicate exactly, each time you run the model
written on 17-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

Love it... hope the English version will be coming soon :)
And I am still busy digesting the great articles you have already in English! Is your Branding & Marketing Balanced Scorecard something like a brand metric valuation/ non-metric qualification "dashboard"?
written on 18-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

Julio, I appreciate the opportunity to watch someone take something apart with shards flying. Especially a seasoned identity designer. This is good. I'd like to respond with my rebuttal, and let me know what you think.

First impression: Rabbit
I think this is valid. Visually I also see the bunny ears with the "b's". However, whether a frog jumping or a rabbit hopping, I think the fairy tale inferences are easily digestible by b2b and b2c audiences these days. I think it works either way.

Second: garden tools
This might be a stretch, but I would venture to say Williams landscaping is not a well-recognized national brand in the USA at least. So I don't think there is a high risk of confusion.

Third sight: what has a 3D ball to do with such nice calligraphy?
Well, visually I think it adds dimension to the overall scheme (not just the ball). The tongue of the "t" really feels like its coming at the viewer. It's nice to hear you say the calligraphy is nice. I would tend to agree there.

Fourth reading: it's about communication not technology. Got it. Could it be about something portable? Cool.
Exactly my point. Agreed.

Fifth: it looks different in between these tribe of logos. But I'm not so convinced it has the right visual language. I mean, if you've got to go to a wedding, you could wear a new tuxedo design, but not blue jeans.
Hmmm... are you saying that "Salesforce" is a wedding and "Ribbit" is a pair of Levis?! .... True, in the image with ALL the logos together, it's a mess no matter how you look at it. Jeans or Tux, I see enough of both in that picture.. However, I would try to think of is it as a co-brand, rather than a family of brands or house of brands. So if you take one single logo from the bunch, and put it alongside the Ribbit logo, I think it works. Conversely, I think Ribbit would not work as well as a co-brand with a more complex mark.
written on 18-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco [http://www.webjam.com/brand30] says:

Regarding the fifth: It's not what we think... it's how the Ribbit's tribe understand the relation... I agree that it must be certain coherent aesthetic (for sure), however, the relation should be driven by the experience that those brands together represent to people...
written on 19-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

OK. Aside from the aesthetic aspect... how would you (Cris, Julio, anyone) assess the experience that those brands together represent to people?
written on 19-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

All together... A mess... Product driven instead of benefits driven... A bit difficult to understand...
written on 19-Sep-2008

julio.ferro says:

Mmm... Hard to define because I don't know either their advertising nor what exactly they're selling, except Adobe of course.

Regarding my comments about the identity, it was kind of "gut feeling - first impression assesment". LOL
written on 19-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

Agreed. All those logos together are a mess for all of the above reasons. I pulled the logos from their "partners" page. It was just a list in that context. Otherwise I think they do a very good job of explaining Ribbit in the context of benefits-connection.

Check out: http://www.ribbit.com/
written on 19-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

In the case of Ribbit you're absolutelly right.... However, when you see partners (I'm excluding amphibian) they are adding techy features which are no so simple to understand by a simple mortal!...
written on 20-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

Julio... I always welcome your honest and creative opinion!

Cris... I agree!
written on 20-Sep-2008

julio.ferro says:

See, now I've visited the website the expression starts to make sense 4 me.
It's really good! Have you been working with it?
written on 21-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann says:

Ah, no I have had absolutely nothing to do with Ribbit or Salt Branding... although Salt is a company I would love to work with, and I respect their work very much.
written on 04-Oct-2008

victorraul says:

Little late but...

Cristian, is there a source where I can find something about your work in in the Branding and Marketing BSC model?